Horse-releasing device.



No. 766,585. PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904. W. E. BOLSTA.

HORSE RBLEASING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.28,1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYS PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

W. E. BOLSTA. HORSE RBLEASING DEVICE.

APPLIOATIORIILED MAR. 28. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

Ail

INVENTOR 7/i/Zz'ar12l23olaia WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

HORSE-RELEASING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,585, dated August 2, 1904:.

Application filed March 28, 1904:. Serial No. 200,433. (No model.)

To all whom, it Tit/Ly concern.-

Be it known thatI, "ILLIAM EDWARD BOL- s'rA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Ortonville, in the county of Bigstone and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and Improved Horse-Releasing Device, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a device for releasing horses or other draft-animals from vehicles or the like, and is designed to be capable of rapid and easy operation for the purpose of preventing accidents.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a vehicle with a preferred form of my invention at tached, the parts being in the ordinary position to hold the shafts or thills to the axle. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the parts in the position taken when the thills are released. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view similar to Fig. 1. Fig. a is a horizontal sectional view on the line 1 10f Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view showing certain details hereinafter more particularly described.

In the drawings, a represents various parts of a vehicle, which may be of any ordinary or desired construction and which is provided with an axle 11 and a king-bolt 12. A vertical rod 13 is secured to the body of the wagon and to the axle, preferably in front of the king-bolt, as shown, by means of a bracket 14: and a collar 15, the collar being secured to the bracket. In the upper part of the collar are preferably formed a pair of slots 16 on opposite sides of the rod, and a pin 17 passes through the rod and is adapted to rest in these slots upon turning the rod sufficiently, as will be explained.

18 is a do uble-ended link preferably secured to the bottom of the rod 13 and attached at its two ends to a pair of connecting-rods 19, which are pivoted at 20 to reciprocating pins 21. These pins 21 are mounted in guides 22,

secured to the axle, and are normally pressed on by means of springs 23 or equivalent devices toward the socket 24, preferably formed in one piece with the guides 22, the whole being secured to the axle by means of screws or a collar 25, as shown.

\Vhen the pins 21 are allowed to take the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the thills 26, provided with apertures through which the pins pass, will be securely held to the axle in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3, and when the rod 13 is turned by means of its handle 27 into the position shown in Figs. 2 and 1 the pins will be withdrawn from the holes in the thills and the latter will be free to leave the shaft, thus freeing the horse or horses from the vehicle and preventing accident by the horse running away. Of course it will be obvious that a different number of pins will have to be employed for certain constructions of the vehicles and that many other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the claims.

It is to be noticed that when the thills are released from the axle the pin 17 takes a position where it can drop into the slot 16, which will lock the rod 13 to the axle, the collar 15 being rigidly secured thereto and will permit a person in the vehicle to steer the vehicle by means of the handle 27 in case it has acquired sufficient momentum to carry it along after the horses are detached. This permits the vehicle to be within the absolute control of the person within it and insures the efiicient and convenient operation of the device.

If desired, an additional brake may be used with the improvements mentioned above, and it is of course to be understood that it can be applied to any vehicle whatever. The handle 27 can be made in any ornamental shape, and when in the normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, will be a convenient rest for the reins.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent 1. A horse-releasing device for vehicles, comprising a pair of reciprocable pins adapted to engage the thills, guides for said pins, yielding means, additional manually-operated means for moving the pins toward the thills a and means for rigidly securing said last-named means to the axle of the vehicle, comprising a collar'secured to the axle and having a slot and a pin mounted on said manually-operated means.

2. A horse-releasing device for vehicles, comprising a plurality of reciprocable pins, guides therefor, links connected to said pins, a crank connected to said link for simultaneously operating said pins, a rod for operating said crank, a collar loosely mounted on said rod and rigidly connected to the axle of the vehicle, said collar having a slot, and a pin on the rod adapted to enter said slot.

3. The combination of means for releasing the thills of a vehicle from the axle thereof, and means for rigidly securing said means to the axle, said last-named means comprising a rod, a collar rigidly connected to the axle and having a slot, and a pin rigidly secured to said rod and adapted to enter said slot.

4. The combination of means for releasing the thills of a vehicle from the axle thereof,

and means for rigidly securing said means to the axle, comprising a rod a collar rigidly connected to the axle and having a slot, a pin rigidly secured to said rod and adapted to enter the slot, and operating-handles extending above the dashboard of the vehicle.

5. The combination of means for releasing the thills of a vehicle from the axle thereof, and means for rigidly securing said means to the axle, comprising a rod, a collar rigidly connected to the axle of the vehicle and having a pair of slots, and a pin rigidly secured to the rod and adapted to enter said slots; said last-named means constituting a rest for reins. In testimony Whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM EDWARD BOLSTA.

' Witnesses:

HAYDEN FRENCH, R. B. HUDSON. 

